Hell Hath No Fury
by poet84
Summary: Sequel to For All That You Love. Beginning where we left off, this story follows Buffy and her friends as they prepare for battle with Umbrella Corp. Rating is for violence.
1. Chapter 1

****I'm back. This is the sequel to For All That You Love. If you have not read that story then this will be a little confusing and you will have no idea what is going on. I have the first few chapters written but I can make no guarantees about posting schedule. I currently have 4 active stories. Enjoy****

Buffy watched as the flames continued to consume Sunnydale. She didn't think that anyone could survive the inferno, but she wasn't going to take any chances. If something escaped the fire then it would have to be destroyed. The undead humans were bad enough, but if any of the mutated demons were to escape it would be utter chaos.

As she was running the perimeter of her former home her thoughts traveled to those she left behind. She hoped that Chris and Faith would take care of the others. She knew that Angel would help them if they could make it to L.A., but after seeing the Umbrella logo on the side of those jets she wasn't sure if they would be able to get far without being caught. From what little Chris told her about Umbrella, she had no doubt that they would kill anyone that went against them.

She came to an abrupt stop when her ears picked up a growl coming from her left. She could tell immediately that whatever made that sound wasn't human. As fast as her mind came up with a plan, her body put it into action. She was born with faster reflexes because she was the Slayer, but this was crazy.

Her body flew through the air and she landed smoothly on one of the branches of a tree. Her eyes scanned the area, taking in everything. She could see detail on the small insects that were flying several feet away. She could smell the smoke from the fire blended with the natural smells of the forest around her. Everything was heightened and if she weren't looking for something demonic right now she would be enjoying her newfound abilities.

Moments later the growl sounded again, closer than before. Her eyes caught movement through some bushes before it stepped into the open. The moment she saw the leather trench coat and platinum blond locks she knew who it was. He was cursing and trying to remain in the shadows of the larger trees.

She leapt from her perch and landed lithely on the ground. He startled when he heard the crunch of her boots against the foliage, but froze when he realized who it was, "Slayer. Should have known you'd survive."

"Spike. What are you doing here?" she asked stepping towards him. She noticed how pale and sickly he looked and wondered what could have happened to make him look that way.

"I came back to kill you." She rolled her eyes and he continued, "Bloody military gits caught me and stuck me in some underground prison. They tried to feed me spiked blood. Damn near fell for it too if it hadn't been for the guy in the cell next to me. Barely escaped when all hell broke loose. I found a tunnel that opened up in these woods." His eyes narrowed as he took her in. Something was different about her, "What happened to you? Something's…different."

Buffy wasn't sure what to say. She decided she should probably find out what he knew before trying to explain what happened to her, "What exactly do you know about what happened?" "I was in a cell, something went all wonky and the doors opened. Demons were running all over the place attacking the humans that captured us, but then they were being attacked by zombies or something. I ran, found a tunnel that was clear, and made it out just in time to watch bombs get dropped on good ole Sunnydale. Your turn, pet."

She took a deep breath and moved to a rock to sit. Spike jumped back at the speed in which she moved. Slayers have always been fast, but this was different. Once Buffy was comfortable she started telling Spike her tale. She told him about Chris, Umbrella, the T virus infecting demons, Willow's death, and finally ended with her bite and the bombing of Sunnydale.

He remained quiet through the whole tale, watching as she recounted the last two days. He scanned her form, cataloging all of the ways that she had changed since the last time he saw her. Her face was much paler than it had been, her eyes were unnaturally bright, and not once did she move while recounting her story. Humans twitch, fidget, and blink. She remained motionless except the quick movement of her lips.

"…and that brings us to now." It wasn't until the story was finished that Buffy considered the possibility that telling Spike wasn't a good idea. What if he tried to get himself turned? What if he went to Umbrella? She couldn't dwell on the what if's.

"Bloody hell, Slayer. Can't you die like a normal person?" he asked with a mystified look on his face.

Buffy laughed without humor, "I wish I could."

They decided to form a tentative alliance. Spike, because he thought Buffy could get him away from those sadistic military gits (and he was afraid of her newer abilities if he was being honest), and Buffy because, as much as Spike annoyed the crap out of her, he was familiar. They stuck to the shadows to avoid the sun, circling Sunnydale to look for survivors and to kill anything infected that they found.

* * *

Xander pushed the old truck to its limits, hoping to get away from Sunnydale before the roads were closed off. In one night he lost pretty much everything. His family. His friends. His home. Granted, his family were a bunch of drunks who couldn't really care what happened to him, and his home was on top of a Hellmouth, but his friends were everything to him. They had been through so much together, and now they were gone.

He glanced toward his right and took in Joyce's slouched form and vacant eyes. Tears were still sliding down her face, but she was no longer sobbing. It looked like her body was shutting down and he hated it. She was like a mom to him when his own family wasn't there. Giles wasn't much better. It was obvious that he was trying to be strong and hold it together, but Xander could see the pain clear as day on his face.

Chris had lost friends to the T virus before, but it was harder this time for some reason. He was trying to push it away as he had in the past, but thoughts of Buffy continued to find their way in. He hadn't known her long, only two days really, but she had captivated him the first time he saw her three weeks before.

Faith was struggling to come to terms with everything that had happened. She woke up after being in a coma for almost a year to find the world completely changed. The mayor was no more. Zombies were using the people of Sunnydale as their own personal buffet. Buffy was now dead.

It was this last thought that Faith had mixed emotions about. She knew that Buffy had been trying to help her, but the betrayal of Wesley was painful and it led to her trying to kill Faith. Of course, Faith tried to kill Angel first. It was all really screwed up, but she cared about Buffy in her own way. Now, they were on their way to see Angel, who apparently didn't die the way she intended. Talk about one jacked up reunion.


	2. Chapter 2

They reached Angel's office just before nine that morning. They were exhausted, both physically and emotionally, but they were determined to find a way to destroy Umbrella for what they did. Chris had been fighting against Umbrella for a while now and knew a small group of people, even with a Slayer, wasn't going to do much damage against a multi-billion dollar corporation with ties in the military and government. He wasn't going to destroy their hopes because that was all they had right now.

They entered the slightly run down building and made their way to where Angel Investigations was located. Xander was the first one to enter the office door and was knocked back into Giles by Cordelia, "Oh my god you guys are alive! Angel just saw the news! He was going to come to Sunnydale to find you!" She leaned away from her death grip on Xander and smacked him on the arm, "What the hell did you guys do? Blowing up Sunnydale? Are you insane?"

At this point they were joined by Angel and another man they didn't recognize, "Why don't we let them in so that they can explain, Cordelia?"

Faith, who had been hidden behind the others, steps forward, "FYI, Cordy, we didn't blow up Sunnydale, but you would know that if you shut the hell up for two seconds."

Cordelia backed away to stand slightly behind Angel. Her voice shook slightly as she took in the rogue slayer, "Faith."

Faith's only answer was to smile and throw herself down into a chair. Giles decided to take charge, "Do you have somewhere for Joyce to lay down? It has been a very long night. We will explain everything in a moment, but I would like for her to get some rest now."

Angel looked around the small group with a frown on his face. When he realized that Angel wasn't going to answer the other man stepped forward and answered, "Of course, right this way. I'm Doyle, by the way."

They had only taken a few steps when Angel's voice stopped them, "Where's Buffy?"

The sobs that Joyce had been holding in escaped once more and Angel had his answer. Giles's voice quivered when he spoke, "I will explain when I return."

* * *

Buffy and Spike hadn't found any survivors yet, and she was starting to wonder if they would. For hours, they circled the still burning ruins of Sunnydale, searching the surrounding area for signs of life. "We should get out of here, Pet. No one could survive that bombing, and I'm bloody starving."

She turned to her companion with a smirk on her face, "If you're so hungry, why don't you find an animal to eat or something?"

"I'm a vampire! I drink blood, human blood. What self-respecting vampire would be caught dead drinking animal blood?"

She smiled, "Angel drank pig's blood and he did just fine."

He gave her a smug smile in return, "Like I said…" She rolled her eyes and continued her loop with him following behind. After another hour of searching she was ready to give up when they heard voices carrying through the forest.

"I saw it come this way! Remember, they want the demons alive. If you find any humans, kill them."

Buffy turned to Spike who nearly stepped away from the enraged slayer, "You were hungry?" She didn't wait for his answer, "Free reign on any human wearing the Umbrella logo." With that she took off, racing through the trees toward the voices, her rage pulling her toward her enemy.

Spike caught up to Buffy just as she was retracting her fist from the chest of a man in military garb. He took advantage of the distraction by grabbing the man nearest him and pulling him to his ravenous mouth. He had barely sunk his teeth in when pain shot through his head and he collapsed, pulling the man with him. The man he grabbed pulled a knife from the sheath in his boot and tried to impale it into Spike's head, but he pain had subsided enough for him to block it. Spike wrapped his arm around the man's head and yanked, successfully breaking his neck, sending pain radiating through his head once more.

They were joined in their fight by a couple of demons who had obviously escaped the inferno. One had burns covering its left arm and part of its face. The other looked to be untouched except for one broken horn and a gash just under his right eye. Both were fierce fighters, and between them and Buffy the fight was nearly over.

Part of Buffy knew that it was wrong to kill humans, but the bigger part didn't care. They are the reason that Willow is dead. They are the ones that created this mess. She was going to kill every last one of them.

Using every ounce of her speed, Buffy dodged the gunfire of her newest victim and closed in. She was nearly there when another demon emerged from the trees and encircled the man with its barbed tail. This demon didn't look like anything she had seen before. Its claws were long and it looked like they had recently pushed through the skin. The eyes were blood red and patches of its skin were hanging off revealing the musculature underneath. She knew almost immediately that the demon was infected, but it was confirmed when the thing opened its mouth and literally bit the man's head off.

Grabbing a gun off of one of the fallen men, Buffy aimed for the head and started unloading. She wasn't the best shot, and her attack only seemed to piss the thing off. The thing roared and she barely had time to dodge the corpse that was thrown at her. When she made it to her feet again the monster was right there, swinging its clawed hand at her head. She rolled to the right, earning a small gash in her shoulder from its talons. Again, she barely made it to her feet when it attacked again, this time with its tail. She jumped straight up this time, grabbing onto one of the branches of a tree and swinging herself up.

Spike watched the battle between Buffy and the mutated thing. He knew that Buffy was his best chance at getting out of this alive, but he wasn't sure how he could help. Any time he hit something pain would shoot through him and knock him to his knees. He had even shot one of the humans with the gun from his first kill and the same thing. "Bloody hell," he muttered and raised the gun.

Buffy was hoping to see something from her perch that would allow her to decapitate this stupid thing when it started jerking and turned away with a deafening howl. She searched out the area and saw Spike with an assault rifle drawing the beast away from her. It was then that she noticed one of the dead soldiers had a machete attached to their hip.

Hopping down from her perch, she sped to the soldier and released the weapon. She turned in time to see Spike thrown fifteen feet by a backhand of the things tail. Crouching down, she used her legs to propel herself toward the monster and swung the machete as hard as she could to cut through its thick neck, lopping the head off to land a few feet away.

She knew they weren't in the clear yet, and turned to find Spike so that they could regroup. She saw him lying across the way and a soldier taking aim. Without thinking she threw the machete at the man, its blade driving right through his chest and emerging on the other side. She watched as his face scrunched up in confusion before dropping to his knees. His had raised to touch the handle, but fell with him as he toppled to the dirt.

Looking around she saw that the other soldiers were dead, as well as one of the demons that had helped them. A groan called her attention and she approached Spikes prone form, "You okay there Big Bad?"

"Bloody fantastic," he muttered before rising to his feet.

She turned to the remaining demon to thank him, but he was gone, "He didn't even say goodbye."


	3. Chapter 3

It was silent as Giles and Chris relayed the tragedy that befell Sunnydale, each recounting the separate events that led them to finding each other and losing Buffy. When they finished, the silence remained, stretching out and encompassing them all. Angel was the one to finally break the silence, "Where do you stand in all this, Faith?"

She looked confused, "Come again?"

He stood and approached her, stopping in front of her chair, "Where do you stand in all of this, Faith? The last time we met you weren't exactly erring on the side of good."

She stared into his eyes for a few minutes. He could see the war raging inside of her and allowed her time to fight the battle. Finally, she shrugged and replied, "I might as well stick with you. Don't have anything better to do."

Angel could tell that there was more to it than that. She _wanted_ to fight with them. He would almost bet that she was as upset over Buffy's death as he was. He knew he could push her away, but he wanted her to admit it. He wanted her to show him that she wanted it, "If you don't want to be here, then leave. We don't need you to stick around just to turn on us later."

She sat up straighter and he thought she was going to take a swing at him, "I said I would stay and fight with you."

"Don't do us any favors. You're not exactly the most reliable person. For all we know Umbrella could offer you something you want and you'll turn on us."

This time she did hit him. The force of the blow knocked him back into his desk and she followed, grabbing him by the shirt, "They killed, B. I want them dead just as much as you do. There are only two people who never gave up on me, and Buffy was one of them. She did everything she could to be my friend. Even after…everything…she still tried to help me. Sure, she stabbed me and put me in a coma, but I get it. So I'm staying." She backed off and released Angel, returning to her seat.

Chris caught on to what Angel was doing with Faith, but he wasn't sure that continuing on their path to go after Umbrella was the best idea. He has been fighting against them for months and hasn't made a dent, but it was the life he chose. They didn't have to do this. He wanted to make sure that they knew what they were getting themselves into. "You all know that the probability of taking down Umbrella is practically non-existent, right?" They all turned to him and he continued, "Umbrella is an international, multi-billion dollar company with ties to the military. The most you could hope to accomplish would be to take out a facility, but most of you would lose your lives in the process. I have been tracking down Umbrella's underground facilities for months and was only able to verify Sunnydale. Occasionally they will make a mistake and the virus will get released. You've seen stories on the news about nuclear power plants exploding, or some disaster that will eliminate an entire town right?" There were a few nods, "Those have all been cover ups. Cities like Sunnydale that were exposed to the T virus and had to be quarantined. There are a select few who have tried to fight against Umbrella, and most of them are dead now."

Cordelia jumped up and flipped on the TV to see if there was any news on Sunnydale, "There was mention of an explosion in Sunnydale during one of the commercials this morning. The news should be on now, so maybe we can see what they are saying about it." She had to search the channels because she didn't normally watch the news. That was Angel's thing. Finally, she found one of the local news stations and sure enough the headlining story was Sunnydale. They gathered around the set and listened to the last half of the newscast.

_"There was a collision in the early morning hours. A truck careened off the highway and into one of the large tanks at Sunnydale Natural Gas causing the tank to explode, which started a chain reaction in the gas piping system that ran under the whole of Sunnydale. The entire city has been decimated by the explosion. Crews continue to scour for survivors, but as it stands, the casualties appear to be upwards of 68,000. We will continue to bring you updates on this tragedy as information comes in."_

"All those people," everyone turned to see Joyce standing in the doorway. Her eyes were red and puffy from the tears, and she looked as if she had aged ten years in the last few hours. There was a fire in her eyes though, one that Chris had seen on more than one occasion. "The monsters that did this have to be stopped. Buffy would…" a tear escaped her eye and traveled the now familiar trail down her cheek, "she would go after them. They can't get away with this."

Chris approached her slowly, "It wasn't monsters who did this. They were human beings… mostly. They-"

He was cut off by her scream, "THEY ARE MONSTERS! THEY MAY NOT BE DEMONS, BUT THEY ARE THE WORST KIND OF MONSTER!" Her voice broke and softened while the tears fell harder, "They killed my baby." The silence returned, leaving them all to their thoughts.

* * *

More soldiers appeared, this time with tanks. If they had any chance of getting away then they needed to go now. As they made their way through the forest and away from the military convoy, Spike thought back to their fight. The humans that he attacked caused him intense pain, but when he shot at the demon there was nothing. Maybe he wasn't completely worthless after all. He needed to find out what was wrong with him and quick. He needed to feed, and he didn't want to resort to drinking animal blood.

It was slow going due to Spike's aversion to the sun. They were able to stick to the trees for a little while, but soon they would have to leave the safety of the tree line and venture out into the open. As luck would have it, they stumbled onto a cabin nestled in the woods several miles from anything. It was run down, but would provide them with some shelter until they could move again. Buffy wanted to make it to L.A. tonight and find her friends. Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones to come across the little cabin.

As they approached the shack they could hear raised voices coming from within. From what Buffy could tell they were arguing over what to do next. _"We should go back and kill those humans. They can't take us all."_

_"They've been capturing our kind to experiment on and killing any humans that survived. I don't know about you, but I don't want to become one of those things."_

_"I agree that the experiments need to be stopped somehow, but I couldn't care less about the humans. I would kill them myself given the chance."_

Buffy heard enough. Drawing her leg up, she kicked out, splintering the door and making all of the demons inside of the cabin jump back. "Am I interrupting anything?"

The demon closest to her lunged, but she caught him by the throat and slammed him into the opposite wall. She pulled her fist back and was about to put it through his skull when a voice called out to her, "Wait!"

She turned toward the voice and recognized the demon that they had encountered earlier. He had a few more injuries than earlier, including a gash along his thigh and a bullet hole in his arm, "Hello again."

He approached her tentatively, eyeing her hold on the other demons neck, "Could you put him down?" She raised her eyebrow, but didn't say a word. "We aren't your enemy."

At this laughed, "You were just talking about killing any humans you see. How does that make you not my enemy?"

"I'm sure you are more interested in the humans that destroyed Sunnydale, right?"

She released the demon from her grasp and he fell with a thud, gasping for breath, "I'm listening."

The demon with the broken horn side stepped his fallen brethren, "We want them dead too."

Another demon chimed in, "I just want to get as far away from here as I can. I saw what they did to other demons in that place. They put these chips in our heads so that we couldn't hurt them while they were experimenting on us. I don't want to become another one of their experiments."

Buffy turned to Spike who was standing just inside the door, "Do you have one of those chips?"

He crossed his arms, "Apparently. I didn't know until the fight. Every time I tried to hurt one of the humans my head would feel like it was being ripped apart. I don't think it works on demons because I didn't feel anything when I shot at that thing."

She nodded and internally smiled. If he had a chip that prevented him from hurting anyone then it meant that he would be forced to drink animal blood, "How many of you got these chips?"

Only one other demon raised their hand. They wouldn't be much help to her when she went after Umbrella. She needed fighters that could do some damage. "Alright, here's the deal. I'm going after Umbrella, which is the company responsible for what happened in Sunnydale. All those other demons that they took are probably being moved to another facility where they can continue their work. Anyone that wants to help me take them down can join me, but I'm warning you now, there will be no harming any humans unless they work for Umbrella. I have some friends in L.A. that will be able to help and some of them are human. If you have a problem with that then don't come. Any questions?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chris had just finished filling them in on what he knew about Umbrella when the door opened, "H-he-hello?"

Everyone's eyes flew to the door and the girl standing there. Chris remembered her from the frat house. They helped her escape and Buffy told her to come here and find Angel. He stood and waved her in, "Hi, Tara, right?"

She nodded, "Y-yeah, B-buffy sent me. I w-wo-would have be-en here sooner, but I r-ran into some tr-rouble."

"It's okay. Why don't you sit down?" She took his offered seat and curled up, "Everyone this is Tara. She was with us when we escaped."

After the introductions were made, Chris knelt down in from of the shy girl, "Tara, thank you for coming here. You did what we asked and I can't thank you enough, but you should probably get as far away from here as you can."

"What are you gu-guys going to do?" she asked.

He sighed. He hadn't been able to talk them out of pursuing Umbrella, so he was going to help them as much as he could, "We're going to go after the company that created the virus. It's going to be very dangerous, and it would be best if you got somewhere safe."

She nodded and he was sure that she would agree, but when she spoke it was with certainty, "I would like to help. I'm not a fighter, but I can help with spells and stuff. I-I'm not the most powerful, but I can do tracking spells and can do just about any spell as long as I have the ingredients and instructions."

He remembered her interaction with Buffy's friend. She helped her create that fireball and toss Adam across a room. Maybe they could use her, but if he had his way she would stay out of the line of fire, "If you want to help I won't stop you, but I don't want you doing anything reckless."

She shook her head, "I just wanna help."

Doyle's voice broke through their conversation, "Wolfram and Hart!" Everyone looked at him like he was insane, "What? If this company is as bad as you say they are, then they might have information on 'em. It's worth a try, yeah?"

Angel nodded, "You're right. They deal with all of the major players. They probably represent Umbrella as well."

"Who are Wolfram and Hart?" Giles questioned.

"They're human lawyers that sold their souls and represent some of the most evil creatures on the planet. If they don't represent them, then they will at least have information on them," Doyle answered.

Chris's head was spinning. The name sounded familiar, and if they had information on Umbrella then it was worth paying them a visit. They could use all the help they could get.

Tara gasped, "The Wolf, Ram, and Hart! Y-you can't seriously be th-thinking about going to them for h-h-help!"

Doyle, Angel, and Cordelia shared a look. Doyle knelt in front of her, "What do you know about 'em?"

She shifted in her seat and sunk down into her chair, "My br-brother is a member of the Circle of the Bl-black Thorn. They are the agents for the ancient cabal of demons that make up the Wolf, Ram, and Hart. If the company we are going after is under their pr-rotection then we will die."

Doyle smiled at her, "We've been fighting against Wolfram and Hart for months now, and we're not dead. Well…Angel sort of is, but Cordy and me we're fine."

Tara didn't appear comforted, "They are pure evil! They won't just hand over information to us."

Angel answered, "No they won't, but I may be able to persuade Lindsay to cough up what we need."

"No offense, Angel, but he's not afraid of you. They have all those magical wards, and vampire detecting thingies. They would know you're there the second you walk in the door," Cordelia added.

"What if I go in?" Everyone turned to Xander, "I could dress up like a lawyer and snoop through their files."

Angel nodded, "They would have one of their best handling Umbrella's cases so any information would be kept in either Lindsay's office or Lilah's. I could explain where they are and…"

"NO!" Joyce shouted. The humans in the room all jumped at her sudden exclamation. "I will not send another one of my kids into danger! Too many have died already."

Xander wrapped his arm around his pseudo-mother, "It'll be okay. I'll get in and out as quick as I can. I promise."

With it decided that Xander would be the one to infiltrate Umbrella, they started hashing out a plan. Angel, Doyle, and Tara explained everything they knew about the law firm and who the major players were. Chris volunteered to go in place of Xander, but they all agreed that if something happened then they would need him. He felt bad about using Buffy's friend, but the guy was brave.

* * *

They were going to leave as soon as the sun set. Not all of them were going to be coming with her. Out of the eleven demons that were in the shack when they arrived, eight agreed to join her and Spike. The other three decided to take their chances in the wild. She was glad to see that two of them were chipped, leaving Spike as the only one with a chip joining her. The other was the anti-human bastard that pissed her off. He was the only one that could hurt people and she considered killing him, but knew that would be counter-productive. They others wouldn't trust her if she did.

As night fell, Buffy went about organizing the demons. They would be traveling on foot so she had to figure out the best way to keep them hidden from any patrols. They had been lucky so far, but luck could quickly run out.

One of the demons had a 'friend' in L.A. that could connect them to others who might be able to help. She explained somewhat forcefully that they would be heading to Angel Investigations first and foremost. She needed to see if everyone made it there safely. It had been a few weeks since she had seen Angel, and that trip was short and awkward. She wasn't sure how to act around him anymore and with Chris there it was bound to be worse.

She would always love Angel, but this thing with Chris was exciting. She barely knew him, but it seemed so right to be near him. In the day they spent together she felt like something had fallen into place. He belonged in her life in a way that Angel never did. She didn't want to hurt her first love, but he had to see what this thing with Chris could become.

* * *

It was nearly one o'clock in the morning when they finally felt comfortable with their plan to infiltrate Wolfram and Hart. Faith was going to wait in a coffee shop across the street while Chris made contact with his old partner, Jill Valentine. Tara was going to track Xander using a simple, undetectable charm that would allow them to see his progress on a map. It would also let them know if there was danger, all he had to do was crush the stone and Faith would come in after him. Joyce and Giles were going to do research on Umbrella and see if they could find something that maybe Chris had overlooked. Finally, Doyle and Angel were going to visit some of their contacts in the demon world to see what they could find out, and Cordelia was going to be command central.

The events of the last 48 hours were taking their toll on all of them. It was amazing that they lasted as long as they did. Angel stood up to address the group, "We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. You all need to get some sleep. I'll wake everyone up at seven so that we can get started." There were nods of assent from the group and they all got up to leave when the door creaked open.


	5. Notice

****Hello to those who are reading my stories. Unfortunately, life has become a little too hectic and I have absolutely no time to write. I know many of you have asked about updates and the two stories that have chapters half done will be finished and posted. I'm sorry to do this, but I will do what I can to get ahead and start posting again. It was either put everything on hiatus or pull all of my stories completely. Thank you for reading and I hope I won't be gone too long.****


	6. Chapter 5

****This is a short chapter, but I wanted to post what I had. My stories are still on hiatus, but I will be posting chapters when I can. I want to thank you for reading, and this chapter is for Terrance Rogue who has been my only reviewer. Thank you****

"Bloody Hell, will you shut up already? Nobody cares if you're hungry."

"SPIKE?!" several in the room gasped causing Chris to rise in alarm.

"It's okay, he's with me." Buffy pushed past Spike and the room turned eerily silent. Finally, Joyce hit the floor with a thud causing everyone to jump into action.

"Mom!" Buffy flashed to her mother and gently cradled her mom's head in her lap.

The others were slack jawed after watching Buffy move so fast. "Uh…Buff…not that I'm complaining, but shouldn't you be dead?" Xander asked.

Before she could answer him, Chris grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. His fingers found the pulse point in her wrist and was relieved to feel the rhythm of her heart pounding, even if it was much faster than it should be. Next, he pulled up her pant leg and noticed that the bite mark was completely healed. He continued to look her over, noting the difference in her eyes, and finally spoke, "Buffy, how are you feeling?"

She smiled, "I'm feeling really good. I'm all super powered now; well more than I was already. Actually, I'm starving right now. I could totally eat a giant cheeseburger. Some fries and a shake too. Ohhh, could we get some pancakes?"

"See, even the Slayer is hungry." Spike smacked the demon upside the head, earning a growl.

Giles glanced up and took in the rest of Buffy's group, "Demons?"

Buffy glanced back at the door, "Oh, yeah, we found them outside of Sunnydale. The Umbrella guys were trying to round up any demons that escaped and were killing humans that they found. These guys agreed to help us take on Umbrella."

Angel cautiously approached her, "Buffy, are you alright? You smell different, and you aren't one for working with demons."

She rolled her eyes, "I smell different? Thanks a lot for that. And for the record, I worked with you didn't I?"

"Yeah, mate. She worked with you, and she worked with me against you. What about that Anya twit, wasn't she an ex-demon? And don't forget the werewolf. I'd say she has quite the fondness for demons," Spiked added, smirking at Angel.

Angel's eyes narrowed, "What are you doing here anyway? Couldn't you have gone up in smoke with the rest of Sunnydale?"

Spike strode over to Angel's desk and sat on the edge, "You know, I asked the Slayer the same question. Seems neither one of us are all that keen on dying just yet."

Faith raised her hand, "Not that I'm not loving the banter between you two, but can we get to the bigger issue of B and her new super-charged body? I mean, shouldn't you be a zombie right now?"

Buffy shrugged, "Beats me. I thought I was going to die, but I woke up and I was all like, Superwoman. I guess it would be Super Slayer. Do you think that could be why I'm not all…grrr?"

Giles and Chris locked eyes and neither one of them had an answer. Giles removed his glasses and wiped them with the hem of his shirt, "I suppose, but I honestly couldn't tell you. This is extraordinary. We would have to run some tests, but without Willow, I'm at a loss. She always took care of any scientific problems."

The same demon that interrupted before raised his hand, "While you're busy playing doctor, can the rest of us get some food? We've been running for hours."

"Well, what do you eat?" Cordelia asked.

"I could go for a couple of kittens," he replied.

Cordelia's face dropped, "Forget I asked."

* * *

After another hour of listening to Buffy and her demon friends recount their tale, the group filled them in on the plan to infiltrate Wolfram and Hart. Buffy wanted to volunteer to go in Xander's place, but that idea was shot down. They weren't sure if she would set off their security or not.

The demons opted to stay at a club ran by their friend. That was fine with Buffy as long as they still helped her when the time came. Spike was the only one who opted for staying, but Buffy had a feeling it was more to piss off Angel than anything. He had a real knack for getting under Angel's skin, and she had to admit that she found it funny as well.

When everyone else headed off to bed and Angel took Spike to feed, Buffy and Chris stayed behind. She was glad to have him around again, but the way he was looking at her was different. "What?"

He shook his head, "You shouldn't be a live right now. I'm just surprised to see you. Happy, but surprised."

She smiled, "I'm happy to see you too. I didn't think I would make it out of there, but here I am."

Chris couldn't help but smile back, "How did you get out of there? And what made you team up with demons?"

She started to explain her run in with Spike and the Umbrella goons. His smile faded as she explained taking out the mutated demon. By the time she was done he was sitting stoically with his head down. Moving closer she placed her hand on his arm, "What's wrong?"

He glanced at her hand before looking into her eyes, "Buffy, you were talking about killing those people like it was nothing."

She pulled back like she had been electrocuted, "They are evil. They were murdering people and kidnapping demons to experiment on. They're the ones who did this!" Her body was shaking and she could feel the rage bubbling to the surface. She wasn't sure why she was so angry with Chris all of a sudden, but she felt like her body was standing in an inferno. Taking deep breaths, she slowly calmed herself down, "I'm sorry. I don't know what that was."

He reached out for her hand and she took it, "I think you should get some sleep. We have a lot to do and won't have much time for rest."

She nodded and stood up without letting go of his hand, "Will you stay with me?" she asked.

Her voice was so soft and reminded him of a scared child. He couldn't deny her anything and stood to follow, "Of course. I won't leave you, Buffy."

She smiled softly and placed her free hand against his cheek. The different between their body temperatures didn't go unnoticed, but neither one of them cared. They were reunited and they couldn't be happier.


	7. Chapter 6

****Hi there! I am currently on a small leave of absence from school because I had to have surgery on my throat, but that means that I am able to update some of my stories. I even wrote a few chapters on my original stories so I am happy. I am not officially taking my stories off of hiatus yet because my time is limited, but I am going to try and write what I can over the next couple of weeks. To everyone who is still bothering to read my stories I really appreciate it and I hope you enjoy****

Xander's palms were sweating and he was struggling to maintain his calm façade. Entering Wolfram and Hart was easy. It was trying to make it to the upper floors without being noticed that was proving to be a little more difficult. He had been stopped four times and asked about where he was going and what he was doing. He was becoming quite adept at lying to these scumbags.

Lindsey's office was dark, with only muted light coming from a desk lamp. The shades were pulled tight, leaving the room with an eerily cold feeling. Xander shuddered and quickly moved to the computer so that he could download whatever files he could. Angel had given him a couple of flash drives so that he could copy the files quickly and get out of there before Lindsey or anyone else showed up.

Xander could feel his heart racing faster every minute that he sat there. Thankfully, nobody showed up in the twenty minutes it took for the information to download. The moment the computer finished he jumped out of the chair and pushed it in. He didn't want the crazy demon lawyers to know he was there.

As he made his way to the door he noticed muffled voices moving closer. Angel had told him about the egos of these people, so rather than hide and possibly be found out, he sat in one of the chairs facing Lindsey's desk. As the door knob began to turn, Xander formed a plan. It might not be the best plan, but it would have to work. If it didn't he could always crush the stone that Tara gave him and it would alert Faith and Buffy.

The double doors opened and a man walked in followed by a taller woman. They were talking in hushed tones, but there was an urgency to their conversation. He caught the words "outbreak" and "successful containment" before they noticed he was sitting there. The man stepped forward, his eyes narrowed slightly, "Who are you?"

Xander stood and offered his hand, "Alex Newman. I recently started here and heard you were the best. I was hoping you would take me under your wing."

The man smirked and the woman scoffed, "I am the best, but why would I help you? I've earned my place here, just as you will have to."

He motioned for Xander to leave, but he stood his ground. Maybe he could find out information by getting them talking, "I know all about what happened in Sunnydale."

The woman smiled slightly, covering a grimace, "Everyone knows what happened in Sunnydale. It is on the news."

Xander wasn't going to get anywhere if he didn't give them information they most likely didn't have, "Did you know that there were a few survivors?"

Their eyes widened slightly, not enough to be noticeable if you weren't looking for it, "Highly doubtful," the woman remarked.

Xander nodded and smiled, "Well then I guess I'm not as useful as I thought."

He made to leave, but a hand on his arm stopped him. It was Lindsey, "Say I believed you. Where would I find these survivors?"

Xander didn't want to give away their actual position, but he had to give him something, "They were hiding out near the docks. I believe their plan was to stow away on one of the freighters."

Lindsey nodded and released his arm, "I'll look into it," they pushed him into the office and closed the door, "What else do you know?"

He took his previous seat and told them the basics, "A virus was released and it was connected to the Umbrella Corporation."

The woman sat on the edge of Lindsey's desk, "Nobody is supposed to know about Umbrella. How did you find out?"

"The same way I found out about the survivors. I talked to them. Didn't get much more than that though," he answered.

Lindsey began pacing, "If the senior partners find out that there were survivors then there will be hell to pay. We need to contain this, now."

"We can send a group to the docks now and get rid of them. Find out if there were any others. If that rogue crew from Raccoon City finds out about the experiments they were performing in Sunnydale, or about the labs here in L.A. then they will have our heads."

Lindsey's eyes shot over to Xander before returning to the woman's, "Have security put together a team for a sweep of the docks. We need to contain this mess. We can't let it get out of control like the Angel situation." He turned to Xander and stuck out his hand, "Thanks for the information, Alex. You can go now."

Xander stood and shook his hand, "Now that you know how valuable I can be, maybe you will consider taking me on in future cases."

Lindsey smiled, "I like your tenacity. I might just do that, but you understand that this information is highly sensitive and does not need to leave this room."

Xander nodded, "What information?"

Buffy and Faith were just finishing their coffee when Xander entered the small coffee shop. He started to head for them, but a subtle shake of Buffy's head he sat at a nearby table instead. Faith gave her a quizzical look and Buffy raised her cup to her lips before whispering, "He was followed."

Faith glanced near the entrance where two men in tailored suits took a table, keeping an eye on Xander as he looked through a paper that was left on his table. Flashing Buffy a smile she got up from her seat and sauntered over to them, swaying her hips as she caught the man's eye that was closest to the door, "Hi there big boy, got room for one more?"

His eyes were darting over her body, appreciating the view when he jumped and yelped. The other man had kicked him under the table. They shared a look before the second man addressed her, "We won't be in need of your…services." He sneered at her and she had to fight not to smash his face in.

Her control was worth it when he jumped up and cursed, having noticed that Xander disappeared while she had been distracting them. The man she was flirting with raced out of the front door while the other pushed his way through the back. She already knew that they wouldn't find Xander. B would make sure that he was long gone.

Joyce had not left Buffy's side since they returned from Wolfram and Hart. Her hand was clutched tightly between both of her mother's and there was no sign that she would be letting go anytime soon. Xander was regaling them with his experience in Wolfram and Hart including his conversation with Lindsey.

When Xander was finished Chris shook his head and leaned forward, "I know what you were trying to do, but it was dangerous. You shouldn't have mentioned anything about survivors. The fact that he had you followed shows that he didn't trust you. Now that you have disappeared, the Umbrella labs that you heard about will most likely be put on high alert or shut down and moved entirely. You could have just made this a lot harder than it already was."

Xander threw up his hands, "Well I'm sorry. I thought I was helping. At least we know there are labs here in the city…somewhere. I guess I didn't get a lot of information, but at least I tried."

Buffy leaned over the table and took Xander's hand, "Maybe there will be some information we can use on the flash drives you got. I'm just glad that you got out of there safely."

He smiled in thanks and turned toward Cordelia and Doyle, "Did you find anything yet?"

Cordelia huffed, "Do I look like a computer nerd? Willow was the one that was good with computers. This is going to take me a while."

Angel spoke up from his place in the corner, "I called Oz. He is on his way here now. He might be able to take over."

Chris spread out the map of L.A. they had been pouring over earlier, "Jill is in route and has mobilized a team for infiltration. Once we have coordinates they will help us enter the complex to gather information and destroy the labs. Everyone must be prepared. We don't know what we will be facing when we get into the lab areas. Humans are the easiest targets, but there is a chance that they will release the virus, or that one of their experiments could be released. Guns will take out the zombies if you aim for the head. The vampire that was infected only died once Buffy decapitated it, nothing else worked. The virus affects things differently and we need to be careful. We don't know what they have in these labs. We need to find somewhere we can train."

Doyle looked up from the computer screen that Cordelia was working on, "There's an old shooting range just outside the city. Anyone that doesn't have an aversion to the sun could go there."

The door to Angel's living quarters slammed open and Spike emerged. Everyone's eyes followed him as he reached into the mini fridge and pulled out a coffee cup filled with blood. His platinum blond head bobbed to an unheard song while the seconds ticked down on the microwave. Once it chimed he removed the cup and held it up to his lips, finally noticing the stares, "What?"


End file.
